No One Asked For This
by SuitofMercy
Summary: Izuku Midoriya, like any teenager, wants many things in life; however, he never expected wanting a personality-swapped Katsuki to fall in love with him.
1. Times are Changin'

Izuku Midoriya didn't ask for this. Or, did he?

As a child, this would have been his dream. This would have meant the world to him. His unrequited love requited. That would have been the perfect ending to any tale. No longer would he hold an aching heart or would he endure troubling tension. If this had happened many years earlier, all the angst and awkwardness would have been graciously spared. This could have been...would have been...amazing.

But, now, Izuku realized life sucks.

Izuku had endured many years of bullying and downgrading to know that life isn't all great. Life isn't a pristine package of your wildest dreams. Because, if it was, Izuku would call for a refund and would exchange many major aspects of his life by the age of three. But, life isn't something you can buy and return. Reality doesn't always follow your hopes and dreams, Izuku learned.

Yes, his dream of becoming number one hero is becoming closer to reality than ever despite its initial impossibility. Izuku, of course, was grateful for that, but this is different. Not all dreams should come true, right? Imagine if the League of Villains got their wish. It would be the end of the world as we all know it. Only certain dreams should and possibly will reach reality. Izuku knows that he can't wish someone to love, or even like, you. He wasn't even sure if tolerance was on the table.

But, in all seriousness, life isn't worth the torment of hoping someone would change just like that. No matter how much you may cherish them, they will just remain that aching sore in your side. Izuku had learned to accept that since life just doesn't work the way one wants.

Until it does, and Izuku wasn't having it. Because, seriously, who would have thought that in a million years that his number one rival, Katsuki Bakugou, would just confess to him.

In the boy's bathroom.

Then cower in shame.

In the corner of a urinal.

So, yeah, no, Izuku did not ask for this.

* * *

"Good morning, guys!"

The sun had reached above the horizon, and the students of U.A. were scattered around the cafeteria enjoying. Izuku looked up to find a smiling Uraraka plopping down on a seat in front of him and Iida.

"Good morning, Uraraka," Iida formally greeted his friend. Izuku too gave his welcome, albeit muffled as he was in the middle of eating eggs. Uraraka only giggled in response as she twirls her fork. Followed by the tapping of her feet and failing to retain her cocky grin, it was obvious that there was something she wants to say. However, being Uraraka, she impatiently waited to be acknowledged.

Good thing, Izuku was here to tolerate this kind of nonsense. It was pretty much routine at this point. "You seem happy today, Uraraka."

"Haha, only a little bit," she gently laughed. Her smile only grew wider. "But, since you're asking, Deku…" Izuku didn't recall asking any questions. "I'm super excited for this afternoon's exam! I'm definitely going to pass it!" She pumped her fist into the air.

"That's good to hear, but…" Iida paused. "You do know that this is only a practice exam?"

"I mean, yeah, but that equates to success, right?" Izuku and Iida just stared at the poor girl. "C'mon, think about it, you guys. This practice exam is like a tiny victory for us. All year, Mr. Aizawa has been making us take each exam as if our lives were on the line. With this practice exam, I don't have to suffer from an anxiety attack. I call that a win."

"But…," Iida began, and Izuku already could predict what will happen next. Iida would refute Uraraka's claims with facts from highly reputable sources that he somehow cataloged in his head. Of course, Uraraka would debate back but citing with her heart. It would go on and on until Uraraka incidentally changes the whole conversation. On some days, Izuku would add himself in the debate. But, usually, he enjoyed sitting on the sidelines, sharing a laugh or two at their banter.

Being friends with Uraraka and Iida for over a year had caused some days to be rather predictable. However, Izuku wouldn't have it any other way. With the League of Villains or some wannabe supervillains always showing up at the worst of times, always disturbing their could-have-been slice-of-life adventures, Izuku enjoyed moments of normalcy whenever there was the chance. And, there was nothing Izuku would do then to savor these moments.

Unfortunately, the universe doesn't care for Izuku's needs and wants.

"Okay, but what if Yaoyorozu recreates the same snow cone Todoroki made with his quirk? Will they taste different, or will there be some kind of changggggg-"

"Hey, Uraraka, are you alright?" Iida waved his hand in front of the blank Uravity. Her eyes had widen and started to twitch as she stared off into the distance. "Are you feeling ill?"

"Hey, earth to Uraraka?" Izuku tapped on her shoulder, wondering what she is looking at.

"Uh, huh," Uraraka returned. "I-It's just...it's Bakugou. Doesn't something seems off with him?" She pointed directly behind Iida and Izuku.

_Something wrong with Kacchan?_ Anxiety hit Izuku, turning him into a worrisome (lover) friend who cares (deeply) for the wellbeing of his (crush) rival. But, that instantly resolved itself because... _Nope, this is just Kacchan. Whatever the problem is, he is just exaggerating as usual…_ Izuku turned his head to find that this was not usual. He found Kacchan stumbling into the cafeteria, trying to grab his breakfast without being seen.

There were a lot of things wrong with this picture. Izuku would never admit this extensive knowledge of Kacchan comes for the act of "stalking," rather he will say it comes the act of "paying extremely close attention to a person that one simply admires and wants to be." Typically, Kacchan (always irritated for some trivial reason) is the first one to arrive. He briskly ate his breakfast, hoping to leave early. But, then, Kirishima showed up and spurred a surprisingly civilized conversation with the hothead before class starts.

But, today was nothing of typical, and everyone noticed it.

"Take a look at Bakugou."

"Perhaps, he had a bad night's sleep?"

"You think?"

"Wait, didn't he had a run-in with a villian last night?"

"That could explain it."

"How could it explain his hair? It no longer resembles an exploded palm tree."

Izuku too heard about the incident, and was reasonably worried about his childhood friend. But, it wasn't like he could just go up to Kacchan and say "Hey, are you okay? I heard you got tangled with some villains and don't know if you wanted to talk it out" without resulting in deafening eardrums from curses and insecurity. Of course, when Kirishima asks, all was well.

But it wasn't like Izuku was jealous or anything, he was glad that Kacchan allowed at least one person to take care of him.

But, knowing Kacchan, Izuku assumed that he was probably just a little embarrassed from the attack. This wasn't his first (nor will it be his last as Kacchan's aggressiveness would inevitably lead) rundown with villians. However, this didn't explain the extreme changes of his behavior. His Kacchan would never stumble around, carefully avoiding people like the plague. He would have simply shoved them aside, showing his prowess. He would…

"Did he got hit by a quirk?" Izuku muttered aloud.

Kirishima tried to get attention. "Hey Bakugou, over here, dude."

Izuku curiously watched as Kacchan reacted. Did he just jumped? Was he startled? No, Kacchan would never jump as if he was scared. Maybe, he just jerked his head awkward. Yep, that was most probabl-

Oh my gosh, did he just wave?

And, lo and behold, Kacchan did do a slight wave at the Red Riot, catching him completely off guard, but still graciously waved in return. But, Izuku tried to reason again, Kacchan couldn't have possibly waved. Kacchan doesn't wave. He must have been swatting the air for bugs. Kacchan hates insects after all. Yep, that makes sense. That's the perfect explanation for it all.

In the midst of his thought process, Izuku failed to realize that he was staring at Kacchan for over a minute. The moment this fact registered, Izuku was expecting to see a furious glare with a biting tongue. But, it wasn't that. It was something way worse.

Kacchan was blushing. At him.

_What the… _

"Is Bakugou blushing?" Of course, Kaminari stated this out loud, allowing everyone at range to hear, whipping their attention to the flustered Kacchan who...with later video evidence provided by Mineta...turned completely red, dropped his food, and made a mad dash out of the cafeteria.

_What the…_

"It has to be a quirk! Place your bets."

"We are not betting on our classmate, Kaminari. Bakugou might really need our aide."

"Do you think he got possessed?"

"Perhaps, a quirk made him lose all his memories?"

"But, he seems to remember Kirishima, though."

"It could be hypnotism?"

"Or, someone who shapeshifted into him?"

"And, fail that badly. All they had to do is scream to get the job done."

Izuku couldn't listen to what his classmates are saying, or even register Uraraka constantly nudging his shoulder. The scene of Kacchan blushing at him was set on endless replay in his mind.

Nevermind, constancy in his life. Normalcy was dead.


	2. Time to Appreciate

"So, yeah, Bakugou got hit with a quirk."

_So straightforward_, Class 1-A collectively muttered. After slithering to class half an hour late, Mr. Aizawa immediately prompted the class the conditions of weird Bakugou. The class had spent the rest of breakfast, discussing possible hypotheses, which became more ridiculous than the next:

("Okay, guys, hear me out." It was Kaminari again spurting out nonsense. "What if his brain was split open by a tiny alien who is controlling him from the inside!"

"Kaminari," It was Jiro again correcting nonsense. "Do we have to explain how stupid that sounds?"

"And, if aliens do exist," It was Asui, Izuku meant Tsu, again reasoning nonsense. "Why would they control a high school student? Wouldn't the prime minister be a better option, ribbit?")

Izuku was only glad that it wasn't something entirely serious. Izuku smiled to himself, pushing the image of blushing Kacchan further back into his subconscious.

_I guess the quirk simply made him a bit awkward then, that's all. Nothing to fret about._

"The quirk completely reversed his personality."

_Damn it, Mr. Aizawa!_

"Completely, sir?" Kirishima raised his hand. He was obviously worried about Kacchan from what Izuku could tell. Kacchan and Kirishima were "friends" after all, or whatever Kacchan thought of their relationship.

"That's what Recovery Girl proposed," Mr. Aizawa yawned. "But, it didn't affect his quirk. He'll just have to readjust himself with his new persona. So, be nice." With that, he gave deathly glares to the two pranksters in class, Kaminari and Mineta, who then awkwardly shuffled in their seats.

"So," Ashido didn't even try to hold her devious smile from the rest of the class. Izuku could already tell that she, with the rest of the class, could wait to toy with this new Bakugou. "Where is Bakugou?" Meanwhile, Izuku was dreading every second.

Mr. Aizawa briefly tilted his brow at her. "He's right…" He turned to find Bakugou still standing out in the hallway, practically trembling. Class 1-A were instantly hit with a wave of finding him both adorable (_So cute!) _ but being weirded out that this is the same, hot-tempered Bakugou (_So weird!_) they all know and...know. "Get in here…" Mr. Aizawa, as usual, didn't have time this.

As Bakugou slowly crept in front of the class, they began to realize just how different this Bakugou really was. Not only his entire deposition was different, but everything from his composure to his hair differs from the original Bakugou. Somehow, his facial expression softened, nothing of rough scowl or pierced glare appeared. He wasn't even making eye contact with the class as he stared downward shuffling his feet. Instead of his usual raging lion prowess, he was more of a trembling sheep.

Even his uniform differed, being actually buttoned-up and consisting of an actual tie. Students were starting to believe that him and Izuku were on the same boat of not knowing how to tie ties, and Bakugou simply gave up. But, there was a tie. And, that tie meant everything.

It meant that the Bakugou they all know and love(?) was dead. And, Izuku wasn't having that.

"Um, so, how long will the effects last?" Izuku could hardly restrain the trembling in his voice. He only had a small amount of hope left, which was chipping away every second.

"Um, believe a day…"

_Okay, that's good._

"Or two…"

_That's still okay. I'll just hide in my dorm._

"Maybe a week."

_What._

"Or, a month."

_Mr. Aizawa, please stop._

"We're 36.3% sure that it isn't permanent."

_What kind of percentage is that?_

"But, that shouldn't worry you."

_But, it does_, Izuku slumped on his desk in defeat.

_But, maybe, Mr. Aizawa is right. _Izuku hopelessly tried to think of the positive. _This shouldn't worry me at all. I'll just stay in my dorm no matter how long takes. I've camped out in my room at home countless times during live-feeds of catrophastic disasters, waiting for All-Might to arrive! I've watched a week-long marathon of all his heroic accomplishments. This will be easy...But, missing class would definitely be an issue. _

_And, I can't afford to miss any that will tarnish my school record. Hm, but maybe, opposite Kacchan won't be that of a problem. Instead of being harsh with me, he's just struggling to be nice. Perhaps, there's a part of him resisting the quirk's effects, thus the reason of that scene. His emotions are going all over the place, that's all. Once the quirk fully settles, he will just be a normal, honorable student. Heh, that'll be funny. A nice Kacchan. That'll be okay, still strange, but okay! It shouldn't worry me at all. Not at all. _And then, Izuku hollowly chuckled to himself

By this point in their academic life, the rest of the 1-A had learned how to successful tune out Izuku's rambings. They were all deep in their thoughts of how the rest of the day should play out. Yes, Bakugou could revert back in a week, or amazingly a month. However, they didn't want to take their chance. Today was going to be a great day. From them mostly. Bakugou and Midoriya not so much.

* * *

Never once did Izuku dreamed of not being at U.A. It was his goal, his aspiration, his cornerstone into becoming the number-1 hero. He had made it this far; why would he ever give it up now?

...because his rival has been constantly gazing at him the whole time Mr. Aizawa was detailing their physical assessment for the practice exam. And, it wasn't those fierce death glares that Izuku had grown accustomed to since preschool. Izuku struggled to pay any attention to Mr. Aizawa as he could definitely see that Kacchan was just trying out a friendly albeit very creepy gesture: he was sheepishly looking at Izuku with dotting eyes and a loving smirk. And, it was horrifying.

"It's kind of cute, if you think about it more positively," Urakara whispered. It failed to calm down Izuku's anxiety, but her presence was appreciated. "I mean, Bakugou doesn't hate you, right? Since his whole personality gone flip-flop."

"I-I guess," Izuku sighed. He couldn't really understand why he was against this new Kacchan. This new Kacchan could be actually great for his suffering low self-esteem caused by the old Kacchan. However, something about reversed Kacchan irked him, thinking that more is worse to come.

"So, for this assessment, you'll be partner up in pairs," Mr. Aizawa started.

_Oh no._ Izuku just knew life hated him today.

Mr. Aizawa lazily flipped through his clipboard. "First, we have Midoriya…"

_Here it comes._

"...and Ojiro."

_Wait, seriously! For a second, I thought he would team me up with—_

"Your team is versusing Bakugou and Yaoyorozu."

"_Damn it, Mr. Aizawa_," Izuku accidentally exclaimed this aloud, and immediately covered his mouth.

"Mind saying that louder, Midoriya." Izuku could feel the heated tension from Mr. Aizawa's deathly glower. It didn't matter if his quirk was affecting him or not because Izuku knew he could die at any second.

"N-Not at all, sir...Please excuse me," Izuku mumbled. Uraraka tried to comfort him with light taps on the shoulder. Yep, Izuku just wanted to disappear.

"So, as I was saying," Mr. Aizawa glared at the apologetic greenette, "there will be two teams competing to clear out a small-scaled evacuation quickly and efficiently. You could collaborate for all I care, but, unfortunately, it is in human nature that we value those who "win." Who rescues the most citizens? Who cleared out the most damage? Etcetera, etcetera…" Mr. Aizawa sniffed out a yawn. "Fight with honor or collaborate with duty? At the end of the day, it's your ultimate performance that matters."

"Yeah, it's gonna be quite a performance."

"Yeah, you got that right."

Izuku could hear Kaminari and Hanta's sneers. He regrettably imagined old Kacchan exploding them across the field. It would be lying if he said that morbid thought didn't soothe him only slightly. Kirishima refuted them, but only briefly. Izuku believed that he was also as much as weirded out this situation than Izuku was.

But, despite how weird this all was, Izuku wouldn't allow it to ruin this assessment. Luckily though, the whole thing is just a practice exam, so he shouldn't worry too much.

"Also, change of plans, this is now the actual exam."

"Damn it, Mr. Aiwaza!" This time it was Uraraka who then apologized profusely.

Was it really too late to change schools?


	3. Time to Not Give In

"I think it would be best to collaborate. We could split up evenly to rescue as many citizens all while not running into conflict with the other...H-Hey Midoryia, are you listening?"

Not at all, Izuku would've answered if he heard the question. He busied himself, mumbling how to pass this exam while not being distracted by nice Kacchan. However, even his thought process was serving itself as a distraction. This whole thing was getting him a headache, and Izuku haven't even confronted nice Kacchan face-to-face. Why was he getting frantic about this?

"Hey, earth to Midoriya. We have a minute to plan this," Ojiro tried to alert the manifestation of needless anxiety. Ojiro then sheepishly scratched the back of his head before shamelessly smacking Midoriya with his tail. Izuku ultimately snapped out his subconsciously frenzy with a look of confusion. "Sorry about that. It's just that you were completely out of it."

"Huh?" Izuku recollected his thoughts. "Oh, I'm sorry!" He bowed in apology. "It's just been a strange day for me, and it only just the start of it." Izuku adjusted the collars of his suit. He tried his best to push any thoughts of Kacchan away. There was no need for this to be a bother.

"Yeah, I get it. It'll be strange for me if a guy who hated me all my life started to fall in love with me."

"Yeah." At first, Izuku smiled, nodding in gratitude for Ojiro at least understanding of his internal pain in the situation. Then, the realization hit Izuku as he totally didn't comprehend that statement at first. And, his comprension broke him. "Wait, what."

"That what the guys were saying anyway," Ojiro lightly laughed before realizing himself that he broke Izuku. "Hey, hm, Midoriya? Midoriya?"

"Let's beat them." No train of thought passed through Izuku's mind, only that he must reject that claim at any cost. _Kacchan falling in love with me? This Kacchan? Any Kacchan? Not a chance. He would never even if there's a quirk controlling his every will. He would rather die than to even start liking me, and I know that for a fact. _No, Kacchan couldn't have fallen in love with him. That blushing incident didn't prove that at all. Kacchan was just flustered of how the quirk was affecting him. That was all. Izuku tried to reason as his heart paced frantically. He couldn't let this happen.

"Are you sure about this?" Izuku could sense that Ojiro worried about this rapid change in him.

"Absolutely!" Izuku jumped at Ojiro's reaction. "Competition drives to become our best selves, essentially delivering spontaneous ways to save hopefully everyone. Also, with our quirks, especially, we can easily maneuver around the battlefield. And knowing who we're rivaling, we can worry less about communication and work on instinct alone." _And, I could avoid Kacchan at all cost. _

The whistle blew; it was time.

"Okay, I'll follow your lead if you're positive about this," Ojiro said, readying himself. Izuku nodded in thanks. He took a deep breath to settle down his racing heart.

_I must be really nervous about this exam, huh_. Izuku strongly believed in this false assumption as the field opened up to the teams standing on either side. The rest of Class 1-A were stationed in a protected area; they vividly watched, hoping for their classmates to pass. But, to be honest, they were all just hoping for some lovey-dovey shenanigans heading their way. Oh, how they wished they had some popcorn.

The simulation was revealed as a park of some sort, perhaps a nature reverse. However, from the looks of it, it was currently trashed. Trees had fallen. Pathways were erupted. Water was running amok. And, Izuku could hear yells for help coming from afar. However, looking at where the damage hit, the disaster seemed to be spaced out. So, this could have been either a natural disaster or an individual unable to control their quirk. Eitherway, this was troublesome.

Izuku examined the area again. "I guess we could start clear out here, but…"

"It does seem that there could be more people further out," Ojiro interjected. "I can carefully follow you behind, so we can cover more land." Izuku nodded, happy that he was someone as logical as Ojiro as a teammate.

"How far can your tail throw someone?" Izuku didn't really need to ask. His stalker analytics notes was like a hard drive into his memory.

"Most likely, you'll end up less than halfway into the forest," Ojiro replied. Izuku bit his lip. There was no feasible way that he could avoid Kacchan, no matter how hard he tried. It was one thing to hope, and another to just suck it up and let life takes it toll. Izuku had no choice except to call it quits. And, fortunately or unfortunately for him, Izuku just wasn't that type of person...as of yet.

"That's perfect, actually." Izuku readied himself, activating his quirk to less than 5 percent. He only needed a little boost to control the landing. He leaned against Ojiro's tail and ignored the awkwardness of it wrapping around him.

"Ready?"

Izuku took a step back. His eyes flashed green for a second. "Ready." A second passed; Izuku left the ground and went straight into the sky. As air whiplashed against her face, Izuku could barely keep one eye opened. Of course, he did manage to see a fierce source of light coming from the distance. It must be Kacchan. Perhaps, he was using his quirk as a beacon of light to guide citizens to safety.

A smile crept on Izuku's face. _I guess no matter what Kacchan will always be amazing. _His face slightly became flushed red. However, naturally, Izuku mistook the sentimental feeling to the feeling of unease as he was about to crash down in mere seconds.

He nearly missed the trees as he roughly landed on a patch of grass. It was way more chaotic here. The earthquake divided much of the lands in a rigid patterns and created massively unsteady slopes. Civilians, in form of life-sized bots built by General Studies, were gathered around. Most of them weren't harmed that badly; however, they were definitely frightened...or Izuku believed they were. Despite how impressed Izuku was by advanced technology, he would always be weirded out by them. Especially by the fact that these robots's emotions were depicted as emoticons.

_But, this is UA for you_, Izuku smiled as he got to work.

* * *

After securing a pathway for the robo-civilians, Izuku felt proud of his accomplishments. He's already fifteen minutes in for his exam, and everything has been going smoothly. No villains. No Kacchan. No huge damage. No Kacchan. No instant threat. No Kacchan. No disasters. And, no Kacchan. Yep, if things just follow how it is currently, he would pass this exam for sure.

_I hope Ojiro's doing well, though_, Izuku wondered as he watched the robo-civilians awkwardly marching away from the site. _I wish I had some way of communicating with- _Ow! Izuku felt something drop on his head. It was a little white thing that flopped on the ground. Izuku cautiously picked it up and examined the object. _It looks like an earpiece? Could this be a commun-_

"Testing, testing. One, two, three."

_Wait, that sounds... _"Yaoyorozu?" Izuku whispered into the earpiece.

"Midoriya?" Even through the statics, Izuku could definitely make out Yaoyorozu's voice.

"Yeah?"

"Great, that means Bakugou successfully passed around my communicators to Ojiro and you." _So, that's what he was doing? _"I'm actually appreciating this new Bakugou." _Well, I am not. _"You can alert anyone of us if you get in trouble. Now, let's get that A!" Izuku could sense the glee in her voice. "Oh, to save people, of course…" She offhandedly muttered that last one as her line went mute.

_You know what, I need to stop appreciating the little moments before_-

The communicator started to beep followed with some static noise.

_It's going to be Kacchan, isn't it? _Izuku could feel a headache coming.

"I...I…" It was Kacchan. Izuku could recognized that beautiful voice from worlds apart. "I need s-some backup." Izuku paused in this tracks. Kacchan needed help, and he asked for it. Izuku felt a nervous laughter coming from within him. Days like these, he wished quirks never existed.

"Bakugou," Yaoyorozu came back immediately, "each communicator has been built in GPS, so we locate you where you are. But, for now, the person with the closest proximity is…"

_And, here it is. _

"Ojiro."

Izuku felt really ashamed for being happy in that split second before…

"Oops, I misread that. Izuku, you're the closest. Just head eastward, and you'll find Bakugou."

_Why am I surprised? _"Of course!" Izuku prepped back up. He couldn't show any sign of anguish with people watching. He had to do his job. He was going to be a hero through the toughest of storms, right. "I'm on my way!" Izuku stated, immediately dashing eastward towards Kacchan. He didn't think of plan or asked Kacchan for any analytics to prepare. The only thing on his head, despite everything, was just Kacchan and how this day going to bring them closer together.

* * *

"Kacchan!" Izuku yelled out in the seemingly endless forest. He used a small percentage of his quirk to scurry towards Kacchan's supposed location. The closer Izuku dashes, his communicator beeped as rapidly. Part of Izuku desperately hoped that he is simply exaggerating the situation. Despite the quirk, there's no possible way that Kacchan would fall in love with him. There's no bone in his body that would ever allow him to fall in love with this nerd.

_And, if Kacchan did fall in love with me…then that means— _Izuku abruptly halted in his tracks, locating Kacchan. Even though the action was abrupt, everything that followed felt as if in slow motion. Izuku felt frozen, watching Kacchan at first doing the verbal protocols then lifting his head up to see Izuku. Kacchan's hair flipped in the action, his sweat sprinkled in the air, his somehow kind smile pierced into Izuku's heart...and Izuku did was gaping at the man. Everything became a void. The concept of space and time seemed to null and as the two idiots just stared at each other.

_Why is this happening? _Izuku could feel his face burning. _This was supposed to be a normal day! _"Hey," Izuku snapped out it, inspecting the situation. He dashed over to Kacchan. He ignored his racing heart, mistaking the cause of it to be from his running. He noticed Kacchan looking his way before averting his eyes downward. They were suffering together.

"T-They're trapped in this ditch." It was barely a mutter. Kacchan's booming voice was replaced by a hushed whisper, catching Izuku off guard. _Oh yeah, I guess he kept quiet for most part today. _Izuku strained himself to listen, but tried his best not move in closer to Kacchan...all for the sake of making this engagement less awkward for both of them. "I was afraid that I'll start a chain reaction with my quirk." Kacchan took a quick glance at Izuku before reverting his attention again.

"Oh, I see!" Izuku stammered, also talking in the opposite direction of Kacchan. He held his smile at their interaction. _This is not the Kacchan I know, that's for sure._ Kacchan would just yelled a quick snippet of the situation. _But, even with his personality swapped, Kacchan still takes the stand in trying to be the most productive in dire situations. _The robo-civilians were tightly trapped inside the pit. Water was gathering from the bottom as metal and wires stuck out from the sides. A spark from Kacchan's quirk would ignite quite the disaster. _Kacchan is always a million steps ahead._

"I'll jump in and try to hand them to one by one, okay?" Izuku tried to keep the mood light. Even though his whole body was rattling with mixed emotions, Izuku knew he must keep his cool in front of the new Kacchan and the robo-civilians analyzing his performance. It was all in a day's work in being a hero.

"Yeah."

That soft-spoken one-worded response was like Kacchan and not like Kacchan at the same time. _Here I go. _He lightly jumped in, carefully avoiding soft landing that could easily fall through. During the exchange of helping the individual robo-civilians, the rest of the scenario just felt weird. Talking casually during dire situations wasn't exactly recommended, but...Izuku wished for something to happen. Not anything, of course, but something. Izuku didn't want he wanted as his mind started to wander. Before he knows it, there were no more robo-civilians left in the pit.

"I think you got them all," Kacchan called out, surprising absent-minded Izuku. Kacchan reached out his hand towards him.

"Oh, right…"

The second Izuku touched Katsuki's hand, all different kinds of emotions passed through them from pure indifference to pure flusteration to pure confusion. As usual, Izuku didn't notice what was happening, okay with the physical contact until noticing Kacchan struggling to hide his lovestruck feelings.

_We're just holding hands?! _Izuku now was struggling to hide his internal suffering. _This was all too much for him. This is not Kacchan. This temporary Kacchan. Do not become attached. Why would I become attached? This is Kacchan. __I'm no longer in love with him__._

His Kacchan would have been laughing seeing Izuku alone in a ditch for hours, playing hide-and-go seek, but in the wrong way. Izuku enjoyed spending his time in the dark, wet hole until the police and his mother found him. Kacchan and the others were bad at the game. He couldn't blame them. It was his fault that he fell in love with a masochist. And, those feelings were absolutely gone by middle school.

Reimmersing in his flashback, Izuku failed to notice that he was again mindlessly staring at Kacchan. He was out of the hole, just staring at his non-crush. _Why does this keep happening?_

"Um, I think time is about to run out," Kacchan realized Izuku snapped out of whatever he was doing. "We should take one more look-around of the area before leaving." Kacchan fiddled a bit with his gauntlets.

"Yep...yeah…" Poor Izuku just needed to go back to his dorm. "Let's-" All of a sudden, the ground started to quake. _Another one?! _Izuku quickly caught his balance, steadying his feet. He noticed a falling object. A huge bough cracked and started to plummet right in their area. Izuku was glad the robo-civilians were able to escape beforehand, but…Kacchan! Without a moment of hesitation, Izuku charges towards Kacchan, swooping in to save him. For some reason, again, the world started to slow down. Izuku was carrying Kacchan, somehow in bridal style. Their faces were an inch apart. Realizing what he had just done, Izuku could feel his face on fire. Kacchan's eyes were sparkling. He was actually smiling at Izuku.

"You really are amazing."

"What."

They started to tumble on the ground. The bough missed by afar, but its impact lingered. Izuku felt a sharp pain in his leg (and his heart) from the rough landing. Izuku was thankful of the pain, hoping for it to allow him to forget the words that were spoken. He could hear the timer go off. _I did it. I made it. I just need to go… _Izuku yelped under his breath from the pain. Kacchan tumbled beside him but was able to move towards him.

"Hey, are you're alright, Izuku?"

**Izuku.**

In a quick second, Izuku slammed his injured leg into the closest tree, catching Kacchan completely off guard. Izuku's whole body enveloped in pain, but most painful body part of his..was his heart. Yep, this turned out to be a serious problem, and Izuku needed a plan.

He knew what he had to do.


End file.
